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On this date ...

1971: Local resident Raymond Crespin was one among hundreds across the nation who resigned from their local draft boards to show their disapproval of Lt. William Calley Jr.’s guilty verdict during his court martial over the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

Tucumcari’s Beverly Currell also called U.S. Rep. Manual Lujan in Washington to voice her dissatisfaction with the verdict. Lujan told her he also was not happy with the jury’s decision.

In the same edition, the newspaper published a bulletin stating the jury had sentenced Calley to life in prison with hard labor, avoiding the death penalty. He served 3 1/2 years of house arrest before his release.

A total of 22 men, women and children were slain by U.S. troops during the 1968 My Lai massacre, though later accounts found more than 500 had been killed. Some of the women were raped and their bodies mutilated, and U.S. Army officers covered up the crimes for more than a year. Calley was the only soldier among 14 charged who was convicted of the war crimes.

• Nettie Harrelson of Tucumcari became the newly elected president of the New Mexico State Cowbelles. She was a past president of the Wagonwheel Cowbelles.

• Tucumcari’s Mickey Gares hit two home runs as the Rattlers won three of four games in high-school baseball action.